NEWS
Bayelsa Govt Approves Wage Award for Civil Servants
From Mike Tayese, Yenagoa
The Bayelsa State Government has approved the payment of wage awards to civil servants in its ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as part of measures to cushion the effects of the excruciating economic realities.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, disclosed this on Friday when the leadership of the South-South Zone of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) led by its Chairman, Comrade Bolum Martin and Vice Chairman, Comrade Julius Laye, paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa.
The deputy governor explained that the wage award which was approved by Governor Douye Diri is in line with the Federal Government’s appeal to the states to utilize funds from oil subsidy removal to ameliorate the economic hardship facing workers.
According to the statement, Senator Ewhrudjakpo had directed the Head of the State Civil Service, Mrs Biobelemoye Charles-Onyeama, to work out modalities for the payment of the N35,000 wage awards to all civil servants on the state government payroll.
Describing the civil service as the engine room for the implementation of government’s programmes and policies, the Deputy Governor assured that the present administration in Bayelsa would continue to take the welfare of civil servants seriously.
He assured the TUC of government’s support and encouragement where necessary to meet their goals and promote healthy industrial relations in the state, South South region and the country at large.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, however, urged the two major labour centres in the country, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to always work together in the interest of workers and the entire citizenry of the country.
His words: “The effectiveness of any government is the civil service, and so, anybody who disorganized, disregards, undermines and fails to recognize the civil service, that person is only doing so to promote his or her own intention to fail in government or governance.
“Civil servants are the people that implement the programmes and policies of the government. In fact, they run with the vision of the government. That is why we take our civil service very seriously here.
“And our civil servants are also very supportive. They have always supported us as a government. So, we don’t joke with matters affecting them. As we speak, we are not owing our workers.
“Like the wage award you mentioned, I want you to know that the Governor has already approved the wage awards for civil servants in the state. Soon after this meeting, the Head of Service will get the approval and start working on it.”
Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman of TUC, South South zone, Comrade Bolum Martin, acknowledged the labour friendly disposition of the Governor Diri-led administration, noting that Bayelsa is among the few states that had extended the payment of the 30 percent minimum wage to local government workers.
Comrade Martin, who is also the TUC State Chairman of Delta State, also lauded the state government for taking the lead on paying call duty allowance to health personnel, wage awards to local government workers and for creating a conducive work environment.
He informed that the TUC chairmen and secretaries of the South South states were in Bayelsa for their zonal meeting ahead of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting next month.
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).
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